The Loch

Chapter 36

News of my father's daring escape had gone worldwide by the time the five of us emerged from Aldourie Castle into glorious daylight. Judge Hannam was furious, and many predicted Angus would be the first murderer to swing from a Scottish gallows since twenty-one-year-old Henry Burnett was hanged in Craiginches Prison on August 15, 1963, for shooting his lover's husband.

The irony was lost on no one.

The "announcement" that Angus would be arriving via ambulance at Raigmore Hospita l within the hour to "prove his innocence" sent the press and sheriff's headquarters scurrying. By the time we turned onto the A9 highway, seven police cars and two helicopters had joined us. People were waving and honking their horns… the whole thing reminded me of O. J. Simpson's escapade in the white Ford Bronco.

Theresa Cialino was at the hospital, surrounded by reporters, when her cousin, James, drove our ambulance through the hospital entrance. We were immediately surrounded by a dozen heavily armed police officers and hordes of media, everyone moving into position as the ambulance's back doors were swung open.

I was the first one out, my head heavily bandaged, my nostrils filled with soot. Nurse Kasa helped my father down from the van, the police immediately shackling his wrists and ankles, as if he were going to escape from this throng.

And then, as the flashes flashed and the cameras whirled, the remains of John Cialino were removed from the ambulance on a gurney, and the lore of the Loch Ness Monster suddenly took on a whole new meaning.

The Inverness Courier would later pen the moment as the press conference of "the dead, a dead man walking, and the thrice dead man."

Theresa fainted and had to be carried into the hospital. Angus demanded to be released, threatening to sue the High Court. The judge ordered him to the cardiac unit and sent Johnny C.'s remains to the lab for a forensics evaluation.

It was a bizarre ending to a bizarre trial, one I would have enjoyed more had I not collapsed.

Rushed into the Emergency Room, I was placed on a ventilator and spent the next twenty-four hours in Intensive Care, suffering from carbon dioxide poisoning and a concussion.

I awoke with an all-too-familiar tube down my throat as Brandy entered my private room.

"Gosh, Zack, you look awful."

It was like bad déjà vu.

"Rar roo reaking rup rith ree?"

Brandy smacked me hard on top of my bandaged head.

"Oww."

"That's for tossin' me overboard, ye bastard. An' no, I'm no' breakin' up wi' ye, though I should, after all ye put me through."

"Rarry ree?"

"Marry ye? Is that how ye want tae ask me, wi' a bloody pipe shoved down yer throat? No, we'll wait "til ye get out o' here, then ye can buy me a nice ring, get down on yer knees, an' ask me properly."

Brandy talked, and I listened. The ambulance driver, James Fox, had released a statement explaining that he had diverted from taking Angus to the hospital only because "the old man convinced me his son was in serious trouble." Both Fox and Nurse Kasa swore that they had found me unconscious on the eastern banks of Loch Ness with Johnny C.'s remains.

For my part, I claimed a loss of memory as to where the Guivre's cave actually was.

Forensics confirmed John Cialino's identity and his cause of death. The High Court of the Justiciary wasted little time in reversing its jury's decision, and Angus was now a free man… and a local hero. There was even talk about the Council hiring him as their official "Ambassador of Tourism."

I imagined Angus, dressed in his kilt, eating haggis. "Come tae Loch Ness, where the haggis is aye fresh, an' oor fish bite back." That one brought a smile to my face.

A brush fire in the forest adjacent to Aldourie Castle had been traced to a broken pipeline owned by Cialino Oil. Scotland's EPA had shut down the leak, and a full investigation was under way.

Through tears of happiness, Brandy described how she and Alban had reconciled. She was staying with him at the lodge, and it was the first time she felt whole again since her childhood.

In truth, it was the first time I had felt whole again, too.

My father came by later the next day with copies of the Inverness Courier. His photo was featured on the front page, under the headlines: VINDICATED!

"So, how're ye feelin', Dragonslayer?"

"My ribs and hip are still sore, otherwise not bad considering."

"Any mair o' thee awfy night terrors?"

"None so far."

"Good, I'm glad for that, son. As ye can read, I'm a free man, an' I've you tae thank." He extended his hand, but I refused to shake it. "Whit's wrong?"

"Lying here in bed, I've been doing a lot of thinking."

"Tyin' up a few loose ends, eh?"

"You might say that. Calum Forrest, for instance. Guess you were pretty upset when your best-friend's wife drowned last December. I searched through old issues of the Inverness Courier on my laptop, but there weren't any details."

Angus shrugged. ""Twis a terrible thing."

"Interesting that there were so many similar so-called drownings last winter. You'd think Sheriff Holmstrom might have done a better job investigating them, but then how could he, being a Black Knight and all. Guess I can thank him for misplacing all my samples, huh?"

"An interestin' theory."

"I'm still a bit confused about the Black Knights' mission, but it's obvious, despite your blood oath, that you wanted the monster dead, and I don't think it had anything to do with Calum's wife. When we were in the cavern, you claimed the Guivre had tasted human blood again. By again, who were you referring to?"

Angus made eye contact, his expression quite serious. "Yer grandfaither."

I sat up in bed. "Your father, Logan? Then he didn't drown?"

"No. He wis a Black Knight, jist like his faither an' aulder brother, an' jist like me, and he died in that hellhole on September 25, 1934. My uncle Liam wis wi' him, an' so wis I. I wis jist a wee laddie, six years auld, yet I can remember whit happened as if it were yesterday."

"What were you doing down here?"

"Lowerin' the iron gate, as we did the start o' each autumn. The gate wis set in place by Sir Adam an' the first Order o' the Black Knights, who were intent on usin' the demons tae guard the Bruce's heart, their sacred keepsake. I imagine these Guivres were a lot like their smaller Anguilla cousins, aye leavin' Loch Ness for the open sea when it got cold. Tae keep the big ones roond an' scare off the English, the Knights wid lower the gate at the end o' the summer, then raise it again each spring."

"And you continued the mission until the tunnel collapsed?"

"Aye. Happened in the winter o"34, caused by the dynamitin' o' the A82, just as ye suspected… only my faither an' uncle didnae ken it at the time. Whilst I waited in the mooth o' the cave, they went on tae raise the gate, an act they'd done dozens o' times wi'oot incident, their bright lights aye keepin' the creatures at a safe distance. Only this time, a young an' feisty female wis waitin'."

"Nessie."

"Aye. She wis queen of the Loch even then, an' irritated as all hell by the blastin' goin' on along the western bank. As I watched, she snatched yer grandfaither in her terrible jowls an' tore him to pieces, feedin' upon his flesh.

"My uncle dragged me away, but I wis shocked an' scared an' went through a' that you went through when ye were bitten, the night terrors, the fear. There were nae heid doctors tae see back then, so I swallowed my anger an' swore revenge. But I'd a'ready taken the blood oath o' the Black Knights, an' Uncle Liam made me swear on my faither's soul that I'd no' forsake the Order. A Wallace aye keeps his word, an' I kept my word, even after the demon tasted ye seventeen years ago."

"And then Calum's wife was killed."

"She wisnae the first, but after she wis taken, I went tae Alban, demandin' we kill the creature. He refused, an' threatened tae kick me oot o' the Order if I ever went public."

"Which you did, during the trial."

"I had tae. No' for my ain sake, but because I kent things wid get worse. Somethin' wis wrong in Loch Ness, that wis obvious, we jist didnae ken whit it wis. An' once that monster tasted human flesh again, I kent it wid continue its attacks, jist like it had after it feasted upon my faither. Mysterious drownin's durin' winter an' its eighteen hours o' night are a lot easier tae keep fraem public scrutiny than attacks durin' oor tourist season."

"And Theresa?"

"She's a close friend, nothin' mair. Her an' Johnny were havin' problems. He got a bit violent wi' her earlier that day, an' she turned tae me for help. So I went tae see him at the construction site. We had words, an' ye ken the rest. "Course, I couldnae tell a' that in court, that widdae implicated Theresa, an' the poor lass's been through enough. So I claimed he owed me money, only Theresa sent me a payment after I'd been arrested."

"And I was your insurance policy, just in case the monster didn't reappear. You lied to me to get me here, then used me to prove Nessie really existed."

"A' that's true, but it's no' the real reason I brought ye hame." He looked away, facing the window. "God kens I've been a lousy faither tae ye, Zachary, but ye're still my son, an' I've missed ye terribly. An' I kent ye were sufferin' inside, too, jist like I had as a lad. After I received a call frae yer mum—"

"My mother called you?"

"Aye. Back in January. She telt me whit happened tae ye in the Sargasso Sea, an' everythin' yer psychiatrist had tae say aboot yer night terrors an' ye bein' feart o' the water, a' stemmin' frae whit happened back when ye was nine.

"Well, I blamed mysel' for that mess, as did you. But I also kent that the only way for ye ever tae be whole again was tae face yer inner demons. That meant comin' hame tae Loch Ness, but no way in hell were ye doin' that, no' wi'oot a fight anyway. When I wis arrested for Johnny's death, I kent the trial could entice ye hame, an' I kent if I goaded ye enough, the Wallace in ye wid come oot fightin'. An' boy wis I ever right. Ye went after that creature like Sherlock Holmes huntin' Moriarty. But I never intended ye tae face the monster alone, only tae prove it wis oot there."

"So you're saying the real reason you spoke up about the monster and left the Templar was to force me to conquer my fears?"

"As I live an' breathe."

"I don't believe you."

"No? Think aboot it, son. Yer mind wis hidin' the truth aboot the Loch frae ye for seventeen years. Puttin' ye up on the witness stand, revealin' yer battle scars tae the world… I had tae jolt that brain o' yers but good. Hell, ye've spent the last seventeen years deceivin' yerself."

I lay back on my pillows, struggling with the revelation.

"Put yer mind tae it, it'll come." Angus bent and kissed me on the forehead. "I've got tae go, I've an interview wi' a Hollywood agent in an hour, but we'll see each other soon enough. Oh, I almost forgot."

He reached into his jacket pocket, then tossed me a folded document. "That's your share o' oor land. You and Maxie each own thirty- three percent. Ye get the rest o' whit's mine after I croak."

"Land? I thought you sold the land to Johnny C.?"

"Leased it. I'd never sell. That land's been in oor family since William Wallace wis jist a lad. At least now we'll start makin' some money frae it, eh?"

"But Dad!"

"Butts are for crappin', son." Angus waved from the hall, his back to me as he paused to eye a pretty blond nurse. "See ye later, Dragonslayer."